UTIG RESEARCH REPORT - 1995
I. Background
Education and research are the twin pillars of The University's mission. Organized research units, such as the Institute for Geophysics (UTIG), enhance The University's ability to fulfill its mission by providing opportunities for research, and research-related activities, that do not fit easily into the framework of an academic department and its programs. In the case of UTIG, examples of such activities include large-scale, multi-investigator, multi-institutional field programs in remote areas that require extensive coordination and logistical support, or where timing is dictated by weather conditions or the availability of specialized equipment, rather than the constraints of class schedules.The purpose of this document is to provide information concerning the current status of UTIG and its continuing contributions to the earth sciences, to the mission of The University, and to the State and the wider community. In this chapter, we describe geophysics in the context of the broad, long-term needs of society, and provide a short overview of UTIG and its history. Following chapters describe some of the current research programs, present some measures of research activities, document the contributions of UTIG to the support and training of students, and document the involvement of UTIG scientists in the community.
Geophysics and the 21st Century
The fundamental problem facing the human race in the 21st Century is how to maintain Earth as a habitable planet in the face of a rapidly rising population, increasing industrial development, limited resources, and a possible increase in natural hazards related to climatic change. Imperative in confronting this problem is a more complete understanding of the solid planet and the integrated geosphere-hydrosphere-cryosphere-atmosphere system that supports all known life. Also critical, especially in a technologically advanced society like that of the United States, is general education in "earth system science," so that the population is better able to comprehend potential impacts of technologic alternatives.In attempting to understand our biosphere and predict its future, it is essential for us to study the evolution of the Earth system and its non-anthropogenic variability through all the eons. Earth is 4.6 billion years old. Evidence of single-celled life now extends back to rocks that formed little more than 500 million years after formation of our planet within the solar system. Multi-cellular life did not evolve until late in the Precambrian Era, about 750 million years ago. The dinosaurs roamed the fragmenting supercontinent of Pangea between 200 and 65 million years ago. In contrast, human beings have existed for less than 5 million years. Because far greater changes in Earth's environment are known to have taken place in the past than are being contemplated for the future, we must unravel the past to predict the future with accuracy.
To understand humanity's place on Earth, and its future, we cannot separate the long-term history of the planet from the nature of its solid interior. Only a few years ago, atmospheric and oceanographic scientists believed that the solid Earth played virtually no role in climate modeling and prediction. However, recent volcanic eruptions, especially that of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines, have irrevocably changed that view and led to more accurate models. New evidence of the existence of active volcanoes and related high heat flux underneath the West Antarctic Ice Sheet has raised concerns regarding the stability of the ice sheet, which contains water equivalent to a 6 meter rise in global sea level. (Such a rise in sea level would inundate large areas of coastal Texas.) Recently, it has even been suggested that volcanic activity and high heat flux along the rift systems in the ocean basins may play some role in the development of climatic phenomena such as El Niņo. Geophysics plays a major role in these studies of Earth's long-term history, and is the primary tool for investigating its interior as well as is its ocean and ice covered areas.
Oil and commercial minerals are going to remain the essential commodities that they are today well into the 21st Century. Therefore, more than ever before, the oil and mining industries are global and reaching ever deeper into the ocean basins that cover three-quarters of the Earth's surface. Geophysical techniques are leading that exploration effort. The search for oil and gas offshore has been active worldwide for decades, and industry will continue to exploit reservoirs in deeper and deeper waters. The frontiers of 1990's exploration by Texas-based petroleum companies are in areas like those around the Caspian Sea and on the Falkland Plateau, in addition to the West Texas Permian basin. Major mining companies are comparing the metallogenic potential of the Pilbara craton of western Australia with those of southern Africa and of North America. Over the next few decades, the mineral resources of the ocean floors, where active metallogenesis has been observed from submersibles and is being studied by the international Ocean Drilling Program (ODP), will also undoubtedly be exploited.
While the causes are still debated, the facts that Earth's surface temperatures are increasing and that sea level is rising globally are no longer in dispute. The diminution of our planet's protective ozone shield, discovered by means of routine ground and satellite measurements in Antarctica over several decades, is also indisputable. While it is, as yet, difficult to assess the effects of these changes on other natural hazards, such as major storms, fires, landslides, and reductions in crop yields, such variations will undoubtedly occur on a global scale. Humankind must be prepared not only to deal with these changes as they occur, but to forecast them, if possible.
Such long-term and large-scale environmental changes have been studied by geologists for centuries, and the role of humanity as an agent for change has been recognized for decades. Only recently, however, have the global scale and societal consequences of human activities been recognized and brought home to us by images from space of our planetary home as an isolated entity. A recent assessment by the National Research Council (NRC), "Solid-Earth Sciences and Society," [National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 1993] has concluded that the goal of the geologic sciences should be:
"to understand the past, present, and future behavior of the whole earth system. From the environments where life evolves on the surface to the interaction between the crust and its fluid envelopes (atmosphere and hydrosphere), this interest extends through the mantle and the outer core to the inner core. A major challenge is to use this understanding to maintain an environment in which the biosphere and humankind will continue to flourish."Beyond the "overarching" recommendation of this study that there should be a commitment in the United States to "earth system science," the NRC derived four Objectives for the solid-earth sciences from the challenges facing society:
and identified five Research Areas that can provide the understanding needed to address these objectives:
- A. Understanding the processes involved in the global earth system;
- B. Sustain sufficient supplies of natural resources;
- C. Mitigate geologic hazards;
- D. Minimize and adjust to the effects of global and environmental change;
Great strides have been made over the past 30 years in understanding how supercontinents break up and ocean basins form, how these events have resulted in the long-term geologic record of sea level and environmental change, how hydrocarbon and metallic mineral resources are formed, and what controls earthquakes and other natural hazards. As we approach the 21st Century, however, the challenge of understanding the entire Earth system has clearly become far more than a mere extension of an intellectual exercise, no matter how challenging. The importance of geophysics to the future of a university can only be considered in this context.
- I. Global environments and biological evolution;
- II. Global geochemical and biogeochemical cycles;
- III. Fluids in and on the Earth;
- IV. Dynamics of the crust (oceanic and continental);
- V. Dynamics of the core and mantle.
Institute for Geophysics, The University of Texas at Austin
As early as 1892, the Board of Regents of The University of Texas recognized the need for a marine station and marine educational program in a state bordering the Gulf of Mexico and with access to the world ocean. The first University of Texas Marine Station was established in 1900 in The University Medical School, located in the port city of Galveston. After a difficult start, due to destruction of shore stations and vessels in tropical storms, the present Marine Sciences Institute was founded at Port Aransas.
The organization that was to become the UTIG was established in 1972 when Maurice Ewing, a native of Texas and founder of the present-day Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, moved back to his home state. He formed the Earth and Planetary Sciences Division of the Marine Biomedical Institute in Galveston. Before "Doc" Ewing's death in 1974, the Division had already become an established center of lunar and seismology research, and had initiated the first academic program in marine multichannel seismic (MCS) research. Exploration geophysics, which started in Texas and, through Ewing, led the world into the post-World War II era of global research in the ocean basins, had returned to its Lone Star roots in the form of an organization with "blue water" marine traditions and the seeds of a planetary approach to earth science.
Building on this solid foundation, The University of Texas Board of Regents developed a plan to provide an opportunity to conduct advanced research and teaching programs in areas related to Texas natural resources, particularly the coastal zone. As a result, the administration of the Earth and Planetary Sciences Division was transferred to the Marine Science Institute of The University of Texas at Austin in 1974 and the Division was renamed the Galveston Geophysics Laboratory. The Laboratory's focus on marine geology and geophysics was strengthened with the acquisition of the research vessel Fred H. Moore from Mobil Oil Corporation in 1978. In 1982, to promote closer interaction with the Department of Geological Sciences and to augment its role in graduate education, the Laboratory was separated from the Marine Science Institute, renamed The University of Texas Institute for Geophysics, and moved to Austin.
Between 1982 and 1994, under the Directorship of Dr. Arthur E. Maxwell, UTIG continued to expand its role in global marine geophysics and seismology and also developed a major research program in polar regions, particularly Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. UTIG's mission, embodied below, continues to be basic and applied geophysical research and graduate student training:
"Geoscientists view Planet Earth from core to upper atmosphere in terms of global systems, and the economic, environmental and intellectual needs to undertake geoscience studies on a global scale are steadily increasing. Thus, to contribute effectively to research and education in the earth sciences, a major public university must have a substantive program which treats the earth as a planet. Such a program should investigate not only the continents, but also the continental margins, the oceans and the polar regions, since the latter, when taken together, cover three-quarters of the surface of the globe. Investigations of these diverse regions, including the study of the deep earth structure beneath them, are vital to understanding the tectonic development and resources of our planet. Furthermore, Texas, with its historical association with the energy industry, with its large and economically important continental shelf and slope, and with its direct access to the world's ocean through the Gulf of Mexico, is a natural location for a program of global scope, including a strong effort in marine geophysics and marine geology."While UTIG no longer operates a research vessel, it is a primary user of vessels in the University National Oceanographic Research Laboratories System (UNOLS), and of National Science Foundation (NSF), United States Coast Guard, and contracted ships. UTIG is a member of the Joint Oceanographic Institutions (JOI), which administers the international ODP, and of the Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education (CORE). UTIG has maintained its position at the forefront of marine MCS research, undertaking the first non-industrial 3D seismic projects and spearheading efforts to use the MCS technique to study the crust beneath the Antarctic ice sheet. UTIG has also been a leader in developing new techniques for high-precision airborne geophysical surveying using light aircraft, and of the generation and use of interactive software for quantitative studies of global paleogeography and tectonic evolution. In this latter field, the Institute has been reaching further back into the past than has heretofore been possible, as a result of new testable hypotheses, partly developed at UTIG, about the Earth's paleogeography prior to the amalgamation of the well-documented late Paleozoic supercontinent Pangea. In so doing UTIG scientists have developed the first hypotheses that suggest former continuations of the continental crust beneath Texas into Antarctica and South America. The "steady state" number of graduate students involved in these projects as partial fulfillment of Masters and Doctoral degree requirements has risen to between 30 and 40, 15-20% of the total complement of students acquiring advanced earth sciences degrees through the Department of Geological Sciences of The University of Texas at Austin.
Without exception, the projects currently underway at UTIG address the Objectives of the NRC's "Solid-Earth Science and Society" study. Furthermore, UTIG projects fall into one or more of the Research Areas identified in that study as being necessary to address the Objectives, and cover approximately 50% of the "Top Priority" and 50% of the "High Priority" research opportunities identified. Those not covered are largely in the fields of geochemistry and hydrology, which are not represented at UTIG but are undertaken elsewhere at The University of Texas at Austin, principally in the Department of Geological Sciences and at the Bureau of Economic Geology. The fact that UTIG concentrates its efforts on these "Top Priority" and "High Priority" topics is no accident. Rather, it is a reflection of the flexibility of the organization, as directed by Dr. Maxwell in the period 1982-1994. UTIG is well suited to move into new research arenas, as needs and new funding opportunities become apparent.
If UTIG did not exist, it would be necessary to establish an equivalent organization within The University of Texas at Austin to accomplish the same science. Scientists at UTIG concentrate their efforts on research involving advanced geophysical techniques at sea and in remote areas of the world. These projects generally involve large research teams, including graduate students, engineers, and other technical personnel, as well as the scientific staff. Cruises and field campaigns necessitate weeks or even months away from home base, and must often be undertaken during the academic year because of local light and weather conditions. While scientists with regular faculty appointments at The University of Texas do undertake similar projects, it would be impossible to run them on a regular, sustained basis from an academic department without addition of non-faculty research associates and technical staff free to leave for prolonged periods at any time of year. The concept is an old one. The first two truly global field earth scientists, Charles Darwin and James Dwight Dana, were dispatched by professorial mentors in Cambridge and Yale, respectively, to undertake field work in the course of the 19th Century voyages of HMS Beagle and the United States Exploring Expedition. These men changed the face of science and the nature of our civilization with their observations and insight, but they were professional researchers, not regular members of a faculty.
Together with the need to conduct research on a global basis comes the need for international cooperation in such research. Apart from national programs and overseas cooperation on a scientist-to-scientist basis as necessary for individual marine and field projects, UTIG is directly involved in the activities of several international programs and organizations. As pointed out by the NRC in "Solid-Earth Science and Society:"
"Earth system science is an intrinsically international undertaking. The global character of geological processes translates into a realization that, for example, many tectonic and sedimentary processes are best illustrated outside our national borders; that volcanic and other hazards are shared by all peoples; that environmental degradation does not stop at political boundaries; and that climatic and sea-level changes occur all over the world."For example, UTIG is part of the organization and planning structure of the international ODP, that has been revolutionizing understanding of the ocean basins for over 25 years. The work of ODP continues in the North Atlantic Ocean basin during the northern fall/winter of 1995/96.
In 1876, The Texas Constitution decreed that there be established "A university of the first class"; in 1883, The University of Texas was born. Scientists of UTIG firmly believe that no 21st Century university will be "of the first class" if it does not participate in the worldwide effort to understand and preserve the biosphere through research and education. Furthermore, without a continuing strong research effort, the United States cannot continue to be the world leader in computer technology, electronics design, and resource exploration and development. UTIG scientists are among the leaders in the global application of geophysical techniques to a comprehensive study of the solid Earth in a framework of international cooperation.
